it’s official – architecture is time consuming

Post navigation

Architecture students often complain about the insane hours and incredibly intense workloads that they are forced to undertake while in University or College – all nighters consumed with model making, renderings, AutoCAD drawings, final presentation boards; the work is never truly finished.

As much as students vent about the workload, it’s difficult for anyone to truly understand the intensity of an architectural degree – they usually pass it off as typical student frustration that everyone experiences.

Well what we’ve all known to be true is now official… statistics from the University of Indiana have shown that architecture majors work more hours each week than ANY OTHER discipline. Impressive, in a twisted kind of way. That’s right… architecture students put in more hours each week than doctors, engineers, lawyers, accountants, and brain surgeons… you name it, we work harder.

The actual number they give is 22.2 hours per week on schoolwork outside of class, which easily the highest number on the chart. Sadly, I think 22 is a lowball figure… I can remember many weeks in a row where I was parked in studio until 10pm all week (including Friday night, ugh) and then back first thing Saturday morning for another 4-5 hours. Wow, I had no life.

So to some, this will come as well earned validation for your efforts. To others, a warning of the workload to come….

I would be curious to see a comparison of these faculty specific school hours and the average pay for those same professions once in the workforce. The sheer volume of knowledge and experience required to become an architect is evident in the schooling hours, however I think the real-world rate of pay is disproportionately low for the skills and knowledge that we bring to the table.